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Halo 2
"Earth will never be the same." : ''- Halo 2 tagline. 'Halo 2' is a first-person shooter science fiction video game developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the original Xbox console and, due to the Xbox 360's backwards compatibility, can be played on its successor console. It is the second game in the main trilogy, and the sequel to ''Halo: Combat Evolved. '' ''Halo 2 ''was released on November 9, 2004. It would later be released for PC in 2007. Its existence was due to the massive success its predecessor, ''Halo: Combat Evolved, garnered during its debut, a success it continued on with in its release. Like the game before it, Halo 2 sparked huge success, selling well over 8.46 million copies as of November 2008. The game's online servers (only on Xbox) were shut down permanently on April 15, 2010, when the original Xbox Live network was discontinued by Microsoft. Halo 2 ''would later be ported to PC in ''Halo 2 Vista. ''Later, on November 9, 2014, ''Halo 2 Anniversary would be released on the game's tenth anniversary, as a remastered version of the original game, which was released inside Halo: The Master Chief Collection ''for Xbox One. Story Plot '' Halo 2's' ''' campaign is a step forward from ''Halo: Combat Evolved, as it takes much more length to explore the lore of the Halo universe than its predecessor did. Where Halo: Combat Evolved focused more on the gameplay and progression of the story within the limits given to it, Halo 2 is far more open. Also, the player is taken to many more locations (Earth, Delta Halo, High CharityHigh Charity, etc.)' '''instead of just one ( Installation 04Alpha Halo).' Despite this,' '''Halo 2's campaign is still linear, and only has one ending, like the rest of the games in the franchise. However, in place of the original ten levels, the game now sports fifteen, and explores more of the universe in one game than possibly all the games in the franchise entirely. The game starts where Halo: Combat Evolved ''began; the Soell System. The ruins of Alpha Halo loom in orbit around Threshold, where High Charity, the Covenant's holy city, rests in orbit, along with its entire fleet. A single CAS-Class Assault Carrier glides past as the scene cuts to the Council Chamber, where Thel 'Vadamee is being held on trial for his failure to protect Halo. Afterwards, Thel is branded a heretic and sentenced to brand the mark of shame. Disgruntled, he is escorted out by Chieftain Tartarus' brutes. Cutting to Cairo Station in orbit over Earth, John-117 is seen outfitted in his new MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark VI. The game then continues with Johnson escorting to an awards ceremony. While this is happening, the scenes cut between the ceremony on Cairo Station, and to Thel being branded with the mark back on High Charity. Eventually, the scene culminates with Cortana informing Admiral Hood that a Covenant fleet of fifteen ships just appeared in orbit over Earth. Announcing battlestations, Hood orders John-117 to defend the station from any and all boarders. John-117 successfully manages to repel the initial wave of Covenant forces, but after the abrupt destruction of both Malta and Athens Stations, Cortana discovers that the Covenant are bringing onboard antimatter bombs to destroy the space stations. His new objective in sight, John-117 continues to deflect the Covenant assault, pushing through until finally confiscating the bomb. After doing so, he daringly jumps out the airlock with it, managing to detonate it inside a CAS-Class Assault Carrier before being retrieved by the [[UNSC In Amber Clad|UNSC ''In Amber Clad]]. Leaving the battle above Earth, the In Amber Clad ''deploys John-117 and Johnson in a flight of Pelicans into the city of Old Mombasa. Halfway in, they run into and are shot down by a Scarab. After the encounter, John-117 and the surviving marines fought their way through the city towards the ''Solemn Penance, the carrier holding the High Prophet of Regret. The fight continued into New Mombasa, where John-117 finally cornered, boarded and destroyed the Scarab. However, afterwards, the Solemn Penance decided to try and escape, so John-117 evacuated to In Amber Clad, and they caught the Penance ''as it entered slipspace. The resulting explosion engulfed New and Old Mombasas, engulfing it in white light. The story cuts back to the disgraced Supreme Commander, Thel 'Vadamee, being escorted from his cell in the brig by Tartarus and his brutes to be shown to the High Prophets of Mercy and Truth. Upon arriving however, the intent is shown to be different, and after waving Tartarus off, Truth and Mercy exchange words with Thel 'Vadamee. After a time, they present him a mission; find the Heretic Leader Sesa 'Refumee, along with all the heretics, and kill them all. To do this, Thel 'Vadamee becomes the Arbiter, saving him from the disgrace of execution. Afterwards, a flight of phantoms carrying a small strike force, lead by Special Operations Commander Rtas 'Vadumee, and accompanied by the Arbiter, arrives at the gas mine on Threshold, where the heretics are based. Upon landing, they immediately begin their assault on the heretics' base, pushing them further into the structure. However, after further pushing into the structure, they force Sesa's hand, and he releases the Flood present on the installation. However, this does not stop the Arbiter, and he continues to pursue Sesa 'Refumee while fighting heretics, Sentinels and Flood. He is even forced to cut the cable tethering the mine to the gas mine's orbit, sending it into freefall. Finally, he corners the heretic leader in the hangar bay, where he meets 343 Guilty Spark. After a brief battle, the Arbiter kills Sesa 'Refumee and is extracted by Phantom, after Tartarus incapacitates and captures 343 Guilty Spark. He then informs the Arbiter that they are "leaving this system." The story cuts back to John-117, where the ''Solemn Penance ''arrives in the Coelest System, particularly in orbit over the gas giant Substance, dragging the ''In Amber Clad ''along with it. Here, they discover yet another Halo, Delta Halo. Wasting no time, John-117 and a squad of ODSTs are deployed onto the surface, where they immediately assault the established Covenant entrenchments, attempting to renew their attempts to assassinate Regret. After learning about Regret's intent to activate Halo, John-117 continues pushing towards the main temple structure where Regret is located. Through hacking into the Covenant BattleNet, Cortana learns that Regret has contacted High Charity, begging for forgiveness, and in response, the entire Covenant Navy, along with High Charity, is heading for the system. Desperate, they push forward more rapidly, reaching the temple just as High Charity and its fleet arrive in orbit. John-117 manages to slay Regret, jumping into the lake just as the ''Penance ''glasses the temple. From below, John-117 is carried further into the lake by a tentacle, belonging to the Gravemind. The story once again cuts back to the Arbiter, who is walking towards the Inner Sanctum of the Hierarchs, where he witnesses the Changing of the Guard. When he enters, he finds Rtas 'Vadumee explaining to Mercy and Truth the outrage of the High Council over their decision to move the Elites from their position as Honor Guards to the Brutes. Truth explains that the death of Regret has made the Elites' incompetence in the position quite clear. Defeated, Rtas 'Vadumee leaves, shooting the Arbiter a look. After dismissing Rtas, Truth and Mercy present the Arbiter with his next mission; go down to Delta Halo and retrieve the Sacred Icon. Tartarus deploys Arbiter from his phantom, and he proceeds to bring down the Shield Wall. However, this action causes the Flood to pour out, and he is forced to fight through hordes of Flood and squadrons of Sentinels to reach the other side. After meeting with Rtas at an Elite camp, the Arbiter informs him of his mission. Leading a lance of Elites, they continue to push towards Delta Halo's Library, while continuing to fight Flood and Sentinels. Near the end however, it becomes quite apparent that the humans are also after the Icon, and so a race begins. The Arbiter manages to arrive soon enough to stop the humans (Miranda and Johnson) from escaping. He knocks Johnson unconscious, while Tartarus captures Miranda, and retrieves the Icon. From here, Tartarus betrays the Arbiter, revealing that he is planning a great uprising to caste down the Elites. When the Arbiter states that this treachery will cause the prophets to execute him, Tartarus responds that "they ordered me to do it." With that said, Tartarus hits the Arbiter with a gravity pulse, sending him hurling over the edge to his intended death. The scene unravels to reveal John-117 captured by the Gravemind and, not long after, reveals that the Arbiter is in fact alive, also captured by the Gravemind. The Gravemind, using the captured 2401 Penitent Tangent and the infected form of Regret to explain to the Arbiter the parallels between the religious zealotry of the Covenant, and the actual truth. Through this, he tries to convince the Elite that the Great Journey is a lie, and that Halo is actually a weapon that once activated, will wipe out all life in the galaxy. The Arbiter, still not quite convinced, remains persistent. In his final act of persuasion, the Gravemind sends them both to seperate locations with one mission: find the Index and retrieve it before the Covenant activates Halo. John-117 is teleported to High Charity, specifically into the Council Chamber, in time to interrupt Truth's galactic address to the Covenant during the Great Schism. Retrieving a weapon, he proceeds to kill everyone in the Council Chamber, before proceeding to fight his way through the city in pursuit of Mercy and Truth. During this, he bares witness to the civil war sparking in the Covenant's ranks, with the Covenant Loyalists and Covenant Separatists factions fighting in the streets and in orbit. John-117 also watches the ''In Amber Clad ''jump into High Charity, crashing into one of the towers to reveal that it was infected with the Flood; revealing the Gravemind's betrayal. Infection forms catch up to Truth and Mercy and attack their guards. One manages to break through and attack Mercy, but when Tartarus goes to help, Truth waves him off, stating the Great Journey waits for noone, "not even you." He then embarks on his waiting phantom. Meanwhile, the Arbiter is teleported to the surface of Delta Halo, near the Control Room. Traversing the area, he bares witness to the slaughter of his race, and the beginning of the Covenant Civil War. Rallying surviving separatists, he fights the loyalist forces in a push towards the Control Room, where he then locates and destroys a loyalist camp. From there, he continues towards the Control Room, where he runs into Rtas 'Vadumee in a Wraith. When asked, the Arbiter reveals that the High Council was murdered by the Brutes, saying so just as Tartarus' phantom arrives at the Control Room, along with the captured Miranda. Back on High Charity, John-117 arrives just in time for Truth's and Tartarus' phantoms to leave, and Mercy dies when he removes the infection form killing him. Cortana remains on High Charity with the promise to detonate the ''In Amber Clad's engines, destroying High Charity and Delta Halo, ironically comparing it to what they did the last time. With her fate sealed, John-117 fights through the hordes of Flood quickly spreading through High Charity and the loyalist forces within, before finally finding a way to board Truth's dreadnought, boarding it just as it disconnects from High Charity's power grid and enters slipspace. Back on Halo, the Arbiter enlists Rtas 'Vadumee's help in breaking into the Control Room. Rtas 'Vadumee takes the Arbiter to another Forerunner installation, where a Scarab is parked. Once there, Rtas takes his leave to board and hijack a Loyalist-controlled CCS-Class Battlecruiser. The Arbiter proceeds inside, where he is aided by more separatist troops against the loyalists, even helping to release some loyalist POWs. Once outside, he saves a few human marines from execution, but not before Johnson commandeers the Scarab. Forced into an unexpected alliance, the Arbiter escorts Johnson's Scarab to the Control Room, where he blows open the entrance with the Scarab's main gun. Moving inside, the Arbiter stops Tartarus, explaining Halo's true purpose with the help of 343 Guilty Spark. Still blinded by loyalty, Tartarus engages the Arbiter in a duel. After one final battle, the Arbiter slays Tartarus, and Miranda manages to retrieve the Index before Halo fires, but not before it sends the other installations into standby mode. When asked, 343 Guilty Spark explains that only from the Ark can the remaining Halo rings be fired. The Arbiter then enters, asking where it is located. Back at Earth, Truth's dreadnought arrives in orbit, and Hood orders it shot down. John-117 contacts Hood to explain that he is onboard, and when asked why, he responds with "Sir, finishing this fight." The game then ends. Campaign